Servitization as reinforcement, not transformation

PurposeThis study explains why product-centric manufacturers utilize advanced services not as vehicles of transformation, but of reinforcement, to strengthen their established business model logic based on selling products and basic product-related services.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical basis of this study relies on an in-depth case study of a globally operating manufacturer of industrial pumps and related services. The data includes 31 interviews conducted over several years of in-depth collaboration with the studied firm.FindingsProduct-centric manufacturers utilize advanced services as engagement platforms to facilitate the external and internal engagement of the actors and the resources controlled by them. Externally, advanced services facilitate access to customer decision makers and insights into their latent needs. Internally, advanced services help the manufacturer to more effectively leverage resources that reside within its different organizational units. Ultimately, in leveraging advanced services as engagement platforms, the manufacturer seeks to boost activities with the greatest immediate impact on its market performance: the sale of products and basic product-related services.Practical implicationsThe study explains why managers should invest into development of advanced services even if such services contribute only marginally to the manufacturer’s direct revenues and profits.Originality/valueThis study contributes to development of an alternative explanation of servitization that departs from the current paradigmatic assumptions in the field</p

Štetni učinci pušenja tijekom trudnoće na DNA i razine reaktivnih oblika kisika (ROS) u krvi majke i novorođenčeta

Some of the genotoxic/carcinogenic substances or metabolites in cigarette smoke are capable of passing through the placenta and harming a newborn’s health. Smoking is also known as a factor in the formation of oxidative damage and the main mechanism involved in the carcinogenic process. Predetermining this genotoxic risk can be successfully achieved by measuring certain parameters of oxidative stress. The comet assay is considered an important biomarker for the evaluation of genotoxic substances and is effective for detecting DNA damage caused by smoking. This study examined third trimester bloods and the cord blood of 28 actively smoking and 22 non-smoking mothers in terms of DNA damage and oxidative stress parameters. Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), plasma nitrite/nitrates (NO2•/NO3•), selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (Se-GPx), Cu, and Zn levels were measured as indicators of oxidative damage. There were no significant increases in DNA damage of the actively smoking pregnant group in comparison with the non-smoking pregnant group, either in the third trimester or cord blood. Oxidative stress parameters of smoker and non-smoker groups were statistically different for MDA (p<0.05), CuZn-SOD (p<0.01), Se-GPx (p<0.05) values while the difference was not significant for NO2•/NO3•, CAT, Zn, and Cu values. The same values were also investigated in cord blood, and only NO2•/NO3• (p<0.01), Se-GPx (p<0.01 and CAT (p<0.001) values were found statistically different. Smoking mothers may have been exposed to more oxidative stress than non-smoking mothers.Pojedine genotoksične/kancerogene supstancije ili metaboliti u cigaretnom dimu mogu proći kroz posteljicu i naštetiti zdravlju novorođenčeta. Pušenje je također poznato kao čimbenik pri nastanku oksidacijskog oštećenja DNA i u procesu kancerogeneze. Ovaj genotoksični rizik može se uspješno odrediti mjerenjem određenih parametara oksidacijskog stresa. Komet-test smatra se važnim biološkim biljegom pri evaluaciji genotoksičnih supstancija i iznimno učinkovitim sredstvom pronalaženja oštećenja DNA uzrokovanih pušenjem. Ova studija proučava krv trudnica u trećem tromjesečju trudnoće i fetalnu krv 28 majki aktivnih pušačica te 22-ju majki nepušačica vezano za oksidacijska oštećenja DNA i parametre oksidacijskog stresa. Razine Cu/Zn superoksidne dismutaze (CuZn-SOD), malondialdehida (MDA), katalaze (CAT), nitrita/nitrata u plazmi (NO2-/NO3-), selenijeve glutation peroksidaze (Se-GPx), Cu i Zn mjerene su kao pokazatelji oksidacijskog oštećenja. Nije bilo značajnih povećanja oštećenja DNA u skupini trudnica aktivnih pušačica u usporedbi sa skupinom trudnica nepušačica, ni u krvi iz trećeg tromjesečja ni u fetalnoj krvi. Parametri oksidacijskog stresa pušačke i nepušačke skupine bili su statistički različiti za vrijednosti MDA (p<0,05), CuZn-SOD (p<0,01), Se-GPx (P<0,05), dok razlika nije bila značajna za vrijednosti NO2-/NO3-, CAT, Zn i Cu. Iste su vrijednosti ispitane i u fetalnoj krvi, a jedino su vrijednosti NO2-/NO3- (p<0,01), Se-GPx (p<0,01) i CAT (p<0,001) bile statistički različite. Vjerojatno je da su majke pušačice bile izložene većem oksidacijskom stresu od majki nepušačica

Nano Gold And Biomedicine: Scientific Letter

Structures that are biocompatible at nanoscale level are designed by applying nanotechnological developments on biomedicine, thus therapeutic agents are yielded to reach diseased tissues and even cells. Additionally, in nanosystems it is important to have targetable nanomaterials which can be targeted to diseased areas for therapeutic use, low toxicity and high biocirculation are essential in addition to the pharmacokinetic properties. Gold nanoparticles exhibit high selectivity and specifity and appropriate physical, chemical, mechanical, optical and electronic properties for design of nanobiomaterials in the early diagnosis and treatment of diseases when compared to the conventional methods. Gold has been distinguished among the drug and gene carrier platforms recently due to its nontoxic nucleus, surface properties such as charge and hydrophobicity that can be adjusted in monolayer, and ability to bind a number of therapeutic agents and biomolecules in a stable manner to create biocompatible complex structures. The aim of this letter is to shed light on synthesis, surface functionality and potential applications of colloidal gold nanoparticles in biomedicine.WoSScopu

HyperE2VID: Improving Event-Based Video Reconstruction via Hypernetworks

Event-based cameras are becoming increasingly popular for their ability to capture high-speed motion with low latency and high dynamic range. However, generating videos from events remains challenging due to the highly sparse and varying nature of event data. To address this, in this study, we propose HyperE2VID, a dynamic neural network architecture for event-based video reconstruction. Our approach uses hypernetworks and dynamic convolutions to generate per-pixel adaptive filters guided by a context fusion module that combines information from event voxel grids and previously reconstructed intensity images. We also employ a curriculum learning strategy to train the network more robustly. Experimental results demonstrate that HyperE2VID achieves better reconstruction quality with fewer parameters and faster inference time than the state-of-the-art methods.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. The project page can be found at https://ercanburak.github.io/HyperE2VID.htm

DETERMINATION OF ZOOPLANKTON COMMUNITY STRUCTURE, BIOMASS AND TROPHIC STATE OF A SHALLOW TURBID LAKE

Lake Manyas is an important area for bird conservation, due to its location along the world wide migratory waterbird route. Heavy cyanobacterial blooms occur in this highly turbid and shallow lake during summer and early autumn months, and excessive fish kills were observed after the blooms. The purpose of the present study was to characterize the zooplankton fauna of the pelagic food web to its relationship with selected water quality variables, and to evaluate its contribution to the food chain namely as abundance and diversity in a hypereutrophic shallow lake. Zooplankton and water samples were collected bimonthly at five stations from the open water of the lake between July 2010 and February 2012. During the study period a total of 48 taxa were recorded (3 taxa for Copepoda, 6 taxa for Cladocera, and 39 taxa for Rotifera). Rotifera was the most abundant group of the zooplankton community, comprising 81.2% of all samples, followed by Copepods 10.3% and Cladocerans 8.5%. Zooplankton community of the lake was dominated by eurytopic euplanktonic species Keratella cochlearis (21.8%). According to the Q(B/T) index, Lake Manyas showed a eutrophic character (Q(B/T)=2.3). The outcome of the statistical analysis showed that zooplankton fauna and its abundance were influenced mainly by water temperature, suspended particulate matter, and Secchi disk depth (transparency), respectively. The dense turbidity of Lake Manyas may be responsible for the elimination of sensitive organisms (larger sized cladocerans and copepods) over time, and also allow the dominancy of rotifers. Moreover cyanobacterial blooms affected crustaceans negatively, through poor food quality and harmful toxins. Temperature had a positive effect on rotifers as a result of population growth rates and available food. Consequently, the main factors that altered the composition and abundance of zooplankton in Lake Manyas were determined to be physical variables and favorable food availability

Humanized brain organoids-on-chip integrated with sensors for screening neuronal activity and neurotoxicity

The complex structure and function of the human central nervous system that develops from the neural tube made in vitro modeling quite challenging until the discovery of brain organoids. Human-induced pluripotent stem cells–derived brain organoids offer recapitulation of the features of early human neurodevelopment in vitro, including the generation, proliferation, and differentiation into mature neurons and micro-macroglial cells, as well as the complex interactions among these diverse cell types of the developing brain. Recent advancements in brain organoids, microfluidic systems, real-time sensing technologies, and their cutting-edge integrated use provide excellent models and tools for emulation of fundamental neurodevelopmental processes, the pathology of neurological disorders, personalized transplantation therapy, and high-throughput neurotoxicity testing by bridging the gap between two-dimensional models and the complex three-dimensional environment in vivo. In this review, we summarize how bioengineering approaches are applied to mitigate the limitations of brain organoids for biomedical and clinical research. We further provide an extensive overview and future perspectives of the humanized brain organoids-on-chip platforms with integrated sensors toward brain organoid intelligence and biocomputing studies. Such approaches might pave the way for increasing approvable clinical applications by solving their current limitations. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Mid-term results of pediatric vascular injured supracondylar humerus fractures and surgical approach

The purpose of this study was to describe our experience with poorly perfused hands after supracondylar fracture of the humerus (SFH) in children and to present mid-term outcomes of a single trauma center. This is a retrospective analysis of SFH patients with vascular injuries, conducted from 2003 to 2012. Nine patients (2.1% of all SFH patients) underwent vascular reconstruction with no hand perfusion after adequate reduction and fixation at a mean age of 8.3 years (+/- 1.8, range 4-12 years). No amputation was needed, and satisfactory elbow and hand functions were obtained. Immediate close anatomic reduction and pinning with re-evaluation of hand perfusion is mandatory for SFH patients with suspected vascular injury before vascular exploration. (C) 2014 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins